Finals of General Election for Outstanding Regional Brands in the Tokai and Hokuriku Region Held

On December 12 (Wed.), 2018, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the regional bureaus of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, i.e., METI Kanto Bureau, Chubu Bureau and Kansai Bureau, held the finals of the General Election for Outstanding Regional Brands in the Tokai and Hokuriku Region in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture.

The finalist university students and right holders of Regional Collective Trademarks delivered presentations on their ideas on new business and other initiatives, and the winners of the Grand Award and other awards were selected.

1. List of the winners

Title of awards

Selection criteria

Title of the goods/services registered under the Regional Collective Trademark System

Name of right holder

Name of university

Name of team

Grand Award

Earning the highest scores in all items under the selection criteria

Yui Sakuraebi (spotted shrimp)

Yuiko Gyogyo Kyodo Kumiai (fisheries cooperative in the Yui area)

Shizuoka University

Yui Sakuraebi Kakiage Tai

Development Award

Earning high scores in items involving development of the target regions in terms of novelty and progressiveness

3. Summary of the General Election for Outstanding Regional Brands in the Tokai and Hokuriku Region

3. Reference: Outline of the Regional Collective Trademark System

Under the Regional Collective Trademark System, regional business cooperatives, commerce and industry associations, chambers of commerce and industry, NPOs and other associations are eligible for registering their own trademarks as a combination of a name of the region and a name of the product or service, if they satisfy predetermined requirements.

Regional collective trademarks aim to appropriately protect regional brands, thereby contributing to supporting the consolidation of the industrial competitiveness and the revitalization of regional economies by maintaining the trust of businesses. As of the end of November 2018, 645 regional collective trademarks have been registered.

The logo for the system

Reference: For further details of the system and d the regional collective trademarks that have been registered, visit the following JPO website for the system.